Saturday, November 22, 2014

Who needs anti-Israel activists when you have Israeli 'leaders' like Nir Barkat doing their job?

One of the most ludicrous and offensive tactics used by anti-Israel bigots around the world is to equate Israel with Nazi Germany. It has become a core tactic for deligitimizing and ultimately destroying the Jewish state.

Yet Jerusalem's Mayor Nir Barkat has now done exactly the same thing. In response to a plan by Ashkelon's Mayor to limit the employment of Palestinian Arab construction workers in the city, Barkat launched a ferocious criticism of his fellow Mayor saying:

“You can’t outlaw an entire public, as was done in Nazi Germany 70 years ago.”

The plan by the Ashkelon Mayor was very clearly not to 'outlaw an entire public' and, unlike Israeli Arab citizens of Israel, Palestinian Arabs have no legal 'right' to work in Israel. In any case the Ashkelon plan has already come in for a lot of criticism from Israeli politicans of all parties, so there was no need for Barkat of all people to get involved. By using the very language of Israel's bitterest enemies Barkat has stooped to a new low for main stream Israeli politicians. Apart from the factual error at the start of Barkat's statement, he is also implying that the Jews of Germany were, like the Palestinian Arabs today, carrying out multiple unprovoked terrorist attacks against German civilians.

As Mayor of Jerusalem, Barkat of all people, knows better than most the enormous scale of the threat currently posed by Palestinian Arabs against Jews in Israel. All sections of Palestinian society have made it very clear that they
support the current intifada taking place - not only do they glorify the murderers but they are being implored by their entire media to carry
out a 'tsunami' of individual attacks inside Israel wherever they can, using knives, cars and axes as their weapons. Many of these attacks - like last week's synagogue massacre - were carried out by Palestinian Arabs (as opposed to Israeli Arabs) working in Israel. One of the terrorists in the synagogue attack actually worked as a cleaner at the synagogue and knew the Rabbis he slaughtered.

Ashkelon is a city which has suffered appallingly from rocket attacks and terrorism. It is prudent for any elected official to take whatever measures are needed to protect their citizens, and that is what the Ashkelon Mayor was trying to do. It is a great shame that the Jerusalem Mayor does not likewise focus on protecting the citizens of his city - a job he is failing at miserably - instead of doing the job of the world's anti-Semitic bigots.

It is ironic that I just reported on the inspirational Centre for Jewish Learning event with Israeli hero Noam Gershony. As I reported there, Gershony had stepped in as a late replacement for Nir Barkat. The organisers promised that Barkat would speak at another of their events. They should rescind the invitation - or maybe just invite George Galloway instead if they want to push the Israel=Nazis narrative.